As the bus rumbled up the narrow road through the towering Picos de Europa, the riders were getting restless. After a morning of meetings, this group of gourmet food buyers and journalists was herded onto the bus with no time for food or a bottle of water. I was sitting next to a German store owner named Gunther who asked loudly if there were any snacks on the bus. He ended with a plea: “But...
It seems that every valley and village in Spain has its own special cheese.
From the sunny Balearic Island of Menorca comes Mahón, a wonderfully creamy combination of cream from three distinct strains of cows. The rounded orange-rinded cheese is reminiscent of Dutch Gouda or Edam. On the northwest coast, milk from the cows of Celtic Galicia are made into traditional...
We always look forward to visiting Asturias, a magnificent area where the crashing sea, sheer mountains and green pastures abound. To the north are the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Sea. To the south are the amazing Picos de Europa. Its dramatic sheer cliffs have protected the area from invasions from the south, and its geographic isolation has protected the area from foreign intruders.
This is an itinerary I designed for a couple who wanted to get immersed in the heart of Spain while avoiding the usual tourist destinations. This was a little over two weeks, which I think is the minimum to do Spain justice. Even with that, we only concentrated on perhaps one third of the country, always bear in mind that there are 17 autonomous regions with their own distinct styles and sometimes...
